Top Cranston Police Gave Thousands to Fung

Friday, January 10, 2014

Kate Nagle, GoLocal Contributor

A GoLocalProv investigation into the campaign contributions of top Cranston police officers and their immediate family has uncovered that at a third of the commanding officers in the department have given thousands of dollars to Cranston Mayor Allan Fung since 2008.

While other city Mayors in Rhode Island have pledged not to take donations from municipal employees -- as a matter of policy both Providence Mayors Angel Taveras and David Cicilline refused donations. Mayor Fung has received nearly $7,000 since taking office from at least ten of the police senior command chain or close relatives.

See Slides, Including Contribution Amounts, BELOW

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Cranston Mayor, and 2014 GOP Gubernatorial candidate, Allan Fung

The Cranston Police learned Thursday they will be the subject of a State Police investigation following a parking ticket incident in November which saw residents in the districts of two City Councilors who opposed a proposed labor contract -- Steven Stycos and Paul Archetto -- hit with hundreds of tickets the day following the council vote.

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"I can't comment to the donations given to Mayor Fung. I believe a person can contribute to whomever the want, that's up to them," said Archetto. "The police contributed $500 to my campaign -- I think that's one of the reasons they lashed out at me. I allow people to donate of course, but that doesn't mean they own me."

While several officers gave amounts to Mayor Fung ranging from $25 to several hundred dollars over the past five years, the contributions of several Lieutanants and family members have added up to the thousands, including the wife of one captain who has given at least $2,300 since Fung took office.

Ticketing Incident Investigation Widens - State Police Investigating

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Cranston Police headquarters.

"I walked out the front door and saw tickets on cars across the street," Councilman Stycos told GoLocal, of when he realized that something might be up. "It stood out because I hadn't seen any cars ticketed before -- and in fact, I'd had trouble having police ticket cars.

Stycos continued, "I was surprised that there were 2 across the street, then I talked to Paul, and we realized something might be up. When we voted, we knew of course [the police] were angry. Word got out quickly that night how we voted."

On Thursday, Stycos and Archetto introduced a resolution at the Council requesting the State Police take over an internal investigation being conducted by the Cranston Police -- and just prior to the meeting, Mayor Fung announced he would be seeking the involvement of the State Police into the matter.

"The Mayor announced at 5:40 PM," said Archetto. "The resolution was drafted days ago and placed on the agenda, so he knew what we were going to do, and when we were going to do it. That's his call, I'm glad he did it."

Archetto added, "The Cranston police have been investigating for 8 weeks. It's hard for me to believe that the caliber of these men, who are trained investigators, that they haven't come to a conclusion. There's a lot of friendships there, it's better that we have an outside agency."

In addition to internal investigation, Mayor Fung has called of an outside consultant from New Jersey to review the Cranston police findings. It i

"We hold the purse strings," said Archetto. "It wasn't hired until we consented, which we never did, so we can stop the investigation. There hasn't been a vote, it's pending."

As for next steps, Archetto said the council would more forth with consideration of its resolution. "We're going to proceed, and discuss the reasons for it. It will be passed in union with the executive branch. It's good that the Mayor, and council are proceeding together on this."